When I was in my early teens, a neighbor of ours came over and had this movie on VHS that he swore was the scariest movie he’d seen. Always up for a good horror flick, I didn’t realize that it was based on purported true events. The movie “Grave Secrets” was loosely based on the events that were reported by several families in a Texan neighborhood.

As the story goes, in the early 1980s Ben and Jean Williams were the first to report strange incidents in the newly built residential block.
In 1983 their neighbors Sam and Judy Haney, began digging out a pool in their back yard when they unearthed two coffins. The incident prompted them to research the history of the place and the led them to Jasper Norton, who was formerly employed as a gravedigger in what they discovered to be an old cemetery. Right under their homes.

Mr. Norton said that the area in which their homes were built, was once an old “black” cemetery that was used by former slaves. According to Mr. Norton, it was called the “Black Hope Cemetery”.

The Haney’s decided to rebury the dead in their yard, but only to be plagued with poltergeist experiences. Voices, apparitions and even death, was reported by the two families.

The Haney’s tired to file a lawsuit against the builders, only to end up in bankruptcy and fleeing their home.

The Williams decided to stay and continue researching the case and filing a new lawsuit. Upon their research, they were told that a tree near their yard had an arrow pointing down. They were told that in that spot, a set of twins were buried. Jean began digging one afternoon. Her daughter came by and tried to help. It’s reported that she fell ill and died a couple of days later of a massive heart attack.

The Williams packed up and abandoned the home.

The neighborhood in the street of “Poppets way”

The current residents are not experiencing problems in the neighborhood. No new reports of apparitions or disembodied voices have been made. Needless to say, this is all based on the reports of two families, as the other neighbors said that they didn’t experience any strange activities.

How true this story is, I’m not sure. I know it makes for a great story.